Nawaz Sharif makes first trip to Kabul since taking power and offers full
support to Afghan peace process

Pakistan’s prime minister said he was committed to helping find peace in Afghanistan and that a deal had been reached to allow Afghan negotiators to meet a high-profile Taliban commander.

Speaking during his first visit to Kabul since taking power in May, Nawaz Sharif said next year marked a “milestone” as foreign forces left the country and urged an end to what he called the “destructive cycle of conflict.”

His one-day visit comes at a crucial moment. President Hamid Karzai is locked in dispute with Washington over a deal to allow American troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond the end of 2014.

At the same time, Afghan negotiators are desperate to meet Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was captured by Pakistan in 2010 when he was the Taliban’s deputy leader. They believe he could be instrumental in persuading his comrades to reach a settlement with Kabul.

Pakistan says he has been released but Afghan officials complain he remains under the tight control of local security agencies.

After meeting Mr Karzai, Mr Sharif said: “Mullah Baradar has been released, we discussed this matter at length today and we jointly have agreed on a mechanism and we will see it is properly implemented, and anybody who is sent by the president to Pakistan to talk to Mullah Baradar, we will carry out the instructions given to us by the president and make sure that such meeting takes place.”

Pakistan has long been accused of backing insurgent groups in Afghanistan as part of a strategy designed to retain influence in its backyard.

However, the current government insists a stable and secure neighbour is in its best interests.

“I... urge all the stakeholders to seize this moment and join hands to support peace efforts,” said Mr Sharif. “It is imperative to reverse the destructive cycle of conflict.

“Pakistan will continue to extend all possible facilitation for the Afghan peace process.”

There is a barely a process worthy of the label at present. Talks have been stalled since a Taliban office opened in Qatar in June, enraging Mr Karzai who complained its flag and brass name plate gave it the trappings of an embassy for a government in exile.

Last week a loya jirga assembly of elders and influential leaders called for Mr Karzai to sign by the end of the year a security pact with Washington that would set the terms for as many as 15,000 American troops to stay beyond the end of 2014.

However, the Afghan president on Friday rounded on Nato forces over an air strike that he said killed a two-year-old boy in the southern province of Helmand. So far he has refused to sign the deal and insists it wait until after presidential elections in April.